Multidimensional data analysis method, multidimensional data analysis apparatus, and program

Abstract

A highly-usable multidimensional data analysis method for performing interactive analysis on, for example, medical/administrative data stored in a hospital information system to support knowledge discovery about clinical decision-making is proposed. A multidimensional data analysis apparatus ( 200 ) includes: a database ( 201 ) separately holding an interval table I indicating intervals and a hierarchy table T indicating a hierarchical structure of each dimension of multidimensional data; an interval selection operation unit ( 202 c ) selecting an interval I′ having a user-requested property c from the interval table I, using an interval selection operation g; a join operation unit ( 202 b ) joining a set of intervals with a join operation (3 in the interval selected by the interval selection operation unit ( 202 c ), using the join operation β; and an aggregation operation unit ( 202 a ) generating a multidimensional cube from a result in the join operation unit ( 202 b ), using an aggregation operation α.

1 . A multidimensional data analysis method for performing multidimensional analysis of time series data in which dimensions and events are in a many-to-many relationship, said multidimensional data analysis method comprising:
 holding an interval table I and a hierarchy table T separately in a database, the interval table I indicating intervals having information of start times and end times of the events, and the hierarchy table T indicating a hierarchical structure of each dimension of multidimensional data;   selecting an interval I′ having a property c requested by a user from the interval table I, by using an interval selection operation g which is an operation of returning a table indicating an interval;   joining a set of intervals with a join operation β in the interval I′ selected in said selecting, by using the join operation which is an operation of joining the interval I′ with a predetermined join condition; and   generating a multidimensional cube from a result of said joining, by using an aggregation operation a which is an operation of generating a multidimensional cube of n dimensions from a data table.   
     
     
         2 . The multidimensional data analysis method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the aggregation operation α in said generating is defined as an operation of returning α(A)= v1;v2, . . . vnχv1;v2; . . . ;vn;count(distinct id)  for a table A(v 1 , v 2 , . . . , v n , id).   
     
     
         3 . The multidimensional data analysis method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the join operation β in said joining is defined as β({I′1, . . . I′n}, O, W)=πo(σp(I′1× . . . ×I′n)), where each table I′i is an interval I′(id; start; end; value; interval_id), W is a set of join condition expressions, (I′i× . . . ×I′j) are joined according to the condition expressions W and I′i.id=I′j.id, and O is a set of columns outputted.   
     
     
         4 . The multidimensional data analysis method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the interval selection operation g in said selecting is a user-defined function defined according to a purpose of analysis, and is defined as an operation of returning a table (id; start; end; value; interval_id) indicating the interval I′ having the property c requested by the user from the interval table I.   
     
     
         5 . The multidimensional data analysis method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an input command from the user; and   displaying the multidimensional cube generated in said generating and a user interface used in a user operation in said receiving, on a screen,   wherein, in the user interface displayed in said displaying, a left side and a right side of a rectangle object are set as a start time and an end time of an interval, connecting two intervals of different rectangle objects with a line designates a temporal order of the intervals, and connecting the rectangle objects to an aggregation operation rectangle object with a line inputs the aggregation operation.   
     
     
         6 . The multidimensional data analysis method according to  claim 3 , further comprising;
 receiving an input command from the user; and   displaying the multidimensional cube generated in said generating and a user inerface used in a user operation in said receiving, on a screen,   wherein, in the user interface displayed in said displaying, a left side and a right side of a rectangle object are set as a start time and an end time of an interval, connection two intervals of different rectangle objects with a line designates a temporal order of the intervals, and connecting the rectangle objects to an aggregation operation rectangle object with a line inputs the aggregation operation, and   in the user interface displayed in said displaying, an aggregation query is generated where the rectangle objects represent the intervals, the line between the rectangle objects represents W, and the line to the operation rectangle object represents O.   
     
     
         7 . A multidimensional data analysis apparatus that performs multidimensional analysis of time series data in which dimensions and events are in a many-to-many relationship, said multidimensional data analysis apparatus comprising:
 a database in which an interval table I and a hierarchy table T are held separately, the interval table I indicating intervals having information of start times and end times of the events, and the hierarchy table T indicating a hierarchical structure of each dimension of multidimensional data;   an interval selection operation unit configured to select an interval I′ having a property c requested by a user from the interval table I, by using an interval selection operation g which is an operation of returning a table indicating an interval;   a join operation unit configured to join a set of intervals with a join operation in the interval I′ selected by said interval selection operation unit, by using the join operation which is an operation of joining the interval I′ with a predetermined join condition; and   an aggregation operation unit configured to generate a multidimensional cube from a result of the joining by said join operation unit, by using an aggregation operation a which is an operation of generating a multidimensional cube of n dimensions from a data table.   
     
     
         8 . The multidimensional data analysis apparatus according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 an input unit configured to receive an input command from the user; and   a display unit configured to display the multidimensional cube generated by said aggregation operation unit and a user interface used in a user operation by said input unit, on a screen,   wherein, in the user interface displayed by said display unit, a left side and a right side of a rectangle object are set as a start time and an end time of an interval, connecting two intervals of different rectangle objects with a line designates a temporal order of the intervals, and connecting the rectangle objects to an aggregation operation rectangle object with a line inputs the aggregation operation.   
     
     
         9 . A program used in a multidimensional data analysis apparatus that performs multidimensional analysis of time series data in which dimensions and events are in a many-to-many relationship, said program causing a computer to execute:
 holding an interval table I and a hierarchy table T separately in a database, the interval table I indicating intervals having information of start times and end times of the events, and the hierarchy table T indicating a hierarchical structure of each dimension of multidimensional data;   selecting an interval I′ having a property c requested by a user from the interval table I, by using an interval selection operation g which is an operation of returning a table indicating an interval;   joining a set of intervals with a join operation β in the interval I′ selected in said selecting, by using the join operation β which is an operation of joining the interval I′ with a predetermined join condition; and   generating a multidimensional cube from a result of said joining, by using an aggregation operation α which is an operation of generating a multidimensional cube of n dimensions from a data table.